Portable audio/video players such as iPod, Zoon, and Gigabeet are popular devices to listen to music as well as to watch visual images. Typically, these device store music and video files (hereafter “music file”) in such file formats as MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, etc., which can be easily downloaded through wired or wireless network communication. A user creates a library of favorite music files in the portable audio/video player and listens to the music while working, studying, walking, or the like.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a basic structure involved in a portable audio/video player for downloading and creating a library of music files in the portable audio/video player. Typically, before using a portable audio/video player 51, a user 47 generally operates a computer 49 to transfer audio data from a remote service provider (WEB) 21 to the portable audio/video player 51. The computer 49 installs an application software such as “i-Tune” to assist such operations thereby creating a play list (library) in the portable audio/video player 51. In operation, the user wares a headset, and starts the portable audio/video player 51 to enjoy the favorite music or moving images selected from the play list.
Due to the usefulness of these devices, many users want to use the portable audio/video players to listen to their favorite music stored therein through another audio/video players such as a one having a larger screen and speakers. For example, a user wants to enjoy the music stored in the portable audio/video player in a vehicle with use of the vehicle's audio/video system without using a headset of the portable audio/video player. Many recent vehicles equip vehicle audio/video players (head units) which allow the users to enjoy music and videos in the vehicles with high quality sounds and display. Such a vehicle audio/video player (vehicle entertainment system) has a screen and speakers much larger and powerful than that of the portable audio/video player.
Thus, there is a desire to use such a portable audio/video player in combination with another player such as a vehicle audio/video player so that a user can enjoy his/her preferred music or dramas, etc., stored in the portable audio/video player when the user is driving a vehicle. In order to connect the portable audio/video player to the vehicle audio/video system, an interface unit is used as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 2. In this example, an interface unit 55 is connected between the portable audio/video player 51 and the vehicle audio/video player 60 to establish communication between the two by compensating the differences in data formats, etc.
Typically, a supplier of such portable audio/video players 51 and a supplier of such interface units 55 are different entities. Portable audio/video players 51 such as i-Pod are updated relatively frequently for improving the functionalities, adding new features, correcting the problems, etc. Typically, a supplier of portable audio/video players 51 (ex. Apple Computer, Inc. that supplies i-Pod) announces such updates so that the users can obtain the firmware versions of the updates through network communication such as through Internet.
Then, in the application of FIG. 2 in which the portable audio/video player 51 is connected to the vehicle audio/video player 60 through the interface unit 55, it is also necessary to update the interface unit 55 every time when the portable audio/video unit 51 is updated. This is because the interface unit 55 needs to include the information, signals, etc., involved in the update of the portable audio/video unit 51 so that the vehicle audio/video player 60 and the portable audio/video unit 51 can communicate with one another. Therefore, when the supplier of the interface unit 55 knows the release of the update of the portable audio/video unit 51, it has to provide means or service to the user to update the software of the interface unit 55 as well.
However, at present, there has been no easy way to update the interface unit 55 corresponding to the update of the portable audio/video player 51. It is inconvenient and costly if the user has to visit a vehicle dealer or a vendor of such an interface unit 55 to have the interface unit 55 updated. Further, users of such portable audio/video players 51 are usually not sophisticated to install by themselves a new software for the update on the interface unit 55. Thus, there is a need of a new method and apparatus that enables a user to update the software of the interface unit for the portable audio/video player easily and quickly, at any desired time, with low cost.